


cotton candy evenings and liquorice nights

by mezzosaka



Category: DREAM!ing (Video Game)
Genre: (kinda), Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, fluff with plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-22
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-11-27 23:41:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18200561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mezzosaka/pseuds/mezzosaka
Summary: In which Yuma seems to overthink, Yanagi seems to be touching him a little more than usual, and all of his friends seem to know something he doesn't.One day, Yuma will understand, and that day is fast approaching.





	cotton candy evenings and liquorice nights

**Author's Note:**

> i'm really soft... this fic was absolutely delightful to work on. it's been a long time since i've felt like i actually wrote something for myself, so this was really refreshing!!!! even if it is incredibly self-indulgent...
> 
> regardless, i hope you enjoy!!!!! yanayuma soft... yanayuma good...

“Good morning, Yuma.”

That was how every day started—that soft, gentle voice rousing him right as the sun peeked over the horizon. Yuma always sat up, feeling as if Yanagi was much closer than he actually was, just in time to watch the room fill with early morning light from where his bed was perched on the loft. Every morning, everything was fuzzy without the aid of his glasses.

The only way he could ever think to describe his and Yanagi’s room was refreshing. It was probably just the cool Tokyo vibe Yanagi wore on his sleeve, but it made the entire room feel like a hotel or something. Yuma knew for a fact that he’d brought his sheets all the way from home, but he still felt like he’d be wrapped up in the cool, familiar unfamiliarity of hotel linens as soon as he fell into bed every night.

Even the air felt cleaner. When Yuma sat up every morning, he felt like he was breathing the freshest air he could possibly breathe, even if he knew deep down that city air was the worst air he’d ever breathed. It was just nice to think that maybe his dorm room was a sanctuary, high up above the school, the city, the smog, the clouds… It was just him and Yanagi, drinking milk in the cotton candy evenings before working on the manga well into the liquorice night.

He shook his head. He really needed to stop imagining his life so romantically.

Yuma took a second to collect himself. Monday. Monday… The start of a new week, a fresh start for new habits, a blank slate… He’d try his best to pace himself a little more this week. If he could just figure out how to strike the perfect balance between school and lives and his social life and his manga work  _ and  _ sleep, he’d be fine. Unfortunately, he’d struck that balance maybe twice in his entire life, and he didn’t really expect to be able to do it again.

Maybe a little reflection would help. He wasn’t sure if he had the mental energy to go through his whole week, but maybe just thinking on yesterday would help. Yesterday, Yuma went shopping with Senri and had dinner at a restaurant that was much too expensive for him to even breathe near. When he came home, he worked on the manga with Yanagi, and he went to bed at one in the morning. He had a dream about fried octopus… Something that had to do with fried octopus…

Yanagi’s hand ruffling his hair snapped his attention back into the present.

“Thinking hard already?” Yanagi asked, moving his hand in gentle strokes along Yuma’s head. He went from the very top down the back, then from the top to the right, then top to left, top to right, top to back. Rhythmic, methodic, soothing. And all he was really doing was fixing Yuma’s hair.

(That was  _ all  _ he was doing, and Yuma had to remind himself of that constantly.)

“I can’t remember what I dreamt about,” Yuma said, willing himself to keep his eyes open. “I think it was something about fried octopus.”

“Fried octopus?” Yanagi laughed, airily, pausing his motions. “Did you get enough to eat yesterday?”

Yuma thought for a moment. Despite the restaurant being crazily expensive, Senri had declared it as being a treat—a reward for Yuma’s company while out for the day. The entire time, Yuma was just wondering how people could have so much money and hardly even think about it.

Yuma nodded,  momentarily disrupting the rhythm of Yanagi’s movements. “I think it was just because Senri was telling me about this online game he was playing the other day. Ah, but that was about squids…?”

Yanagi didn’t say anything, but Yuma could picture him standing next to his bed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. He tilted his head up, wanting to get some sort of confirmation, inadvertently leaning into Yanagi’s touch.

Through the bleary haze of Yuma’s sleepiness, he could see crystal clear emeralds. Yanagi wasn’t shaking his head or rolling his eyes; he was looking at Yuma with the oddest expression on his face. A blush prickled Yuma’s cheeks, and he finally looked away, moving to stand up and stretch as far up as he could reach.

Somehow, the loft seemed dizzyingly tall when he stood.

  
  


“Yumapi!”

Resting his chin in his hands, Senri whined Yuma’s nickname like a complaint. Yuma had hardly been in the classroom for five minutes, and Senri already had something to say! He shouldn’t be too surprised at this point. It seemed like someone  _ always  _ had something to say to him.

“Nito-kun,” Yuma said, with not nearly as much drama. “Morning. What’s up?”

“It’s not fair! You always look well-rested even if you got hardly any sleep last night!” Senri pouted. “You’re so lucky you get along so well with your roommate. That shitty lion kept me up  _ all  _ night, and it shows!”

Yuma didn’t think it was  _ lucky  _ or even  _ weird  _ that he got along with Yanagi, especially after all they’d gone through. It took a kind, persistent person to reconcile with Yuma after upsetting him so deeply, and even if it’d been rocky at first, things had gotten better. 

But Senri and Takaomi were a different case altogether—Yuma was always unsure about where they stood with each other. Every single time he thought they were getting along, Takaomi would complain about Senri not being on the same ‘level’ as him, and Yuma never knew whether he meant something about a video game or something else entirely. Likewise, when Yuma thought they were the snap of a thread away from falling apart, Senri would boast about how their sync had never been better, despite their constant quarrels.

It was just confusing! It was a confusing, flip-flopping relationship, and Yuma should rather consider himself lucky for  _ not  _ getting a roommate he’d just fight with all the time. 

Yuma leaned a little closer, inspecting Senri’s face. Same hairstyle, same bright eyes, same smooth skin. “I don’t think you look tired. You look just like you usually do.”

“You’re super sweet! I wish you were my roommate instead!” Senri huffed. “I’d submit a request to switch  _ him _ out with you if it weren’t for… well, y’know!”

Yuma really didn’t, and it must have shown on his face with how urgently Senri spoke to him next.

“You  _ know,”  _ Senri said, voice now much lower than its usual volume. “You and Yanagi!”

Yuma thought for a moment. Well, he and Yanagi were a pair. He supposed it would be pretty unusual to disrupt the ebb and flow of things in the middle of the school year by switching partners. It’d certainly be a disadvantage follower-wise, as they’d have to start completely from scratch. There was also the possibility of some fans dropping them completely. Most were fans of specific pairs rather than specific people, and even if Yuma didn’t quite get it, he wouldn’t want to disappoint them by suddenly switching places with Takaomi. While Yuma and Senri weren’t too unpopular as a pair, Takaomi and Yanagi certainly were, and Yuma didn’t know if he’d be able to live with himself if he let Yanagi down like that.

So he nodded. “Yeah, I think I get it.”

Senri looked relieved. “Thank God! I didn’t wanna explain it too much in case I stuck my nose where it didn’t belong. I’m really happy for you!”

“For understanding?” Yuma asked.

Senri’s eyes grew wide, but he was quickly distracted by Takaomi’s snort. The two were quickly fighting again, and Yuma was left to himself.

How could Senri be “sticking his nose” anywhere? As far as Yuma was aware, his business seemed to be  _ everyone’s  _ business. Yuma could do something as small as dropping his pencil on the ground, and there’d be at least three cards offering condolences as well as a few packages of replacement pencils waiting in his dorm before the day was up. Yuma was fairly certain he spoke to Senri directly about the fight he and Yanagi had had earlier on anyway.

Regardless of whether or not Senri was intruding on a space that didn’t really exist, Yuma felt like he was floating throughout the entire day, carried solely by the tranquility he had felt from the easy morning. He didn’t feel very sleepy, but he could almost feel Yanagi’s gentle fingers running through his hair every time he was lost in a daydream. As he sketched out potential plotlines in the margins of his notebooks, he could feel the airiness he always felt just from being in his room, just from being around Yanagi…

It was nearly the end of the school day by the time he was beginning to feel the crushing weight of real responsibility begin to push down on his shoulders. Even so, he was practically strolling through the last class of the day instead of merely floating. He hardly felt as mentally exhausted as he usually did after a full day of school, and as he was gathering up his things, he was excited at the prospect of being able to draw some new pages without feeling too tired.

“Mochizuki-kun!”

Touji’s voice had Yuma standing up a little straighter, just like usual. Even though he was thousands of miles away from the nearest definition of  _ intimidating,  _ he was still the prime minister’s son. Yuma never in his life thought he’d be able to get so close to someone so high-ranking, and he found himself being a little more self-aware in Touji’s presence.

“Hey,” Yuma said, careful not to mix up his drawing pens with his writing pens as he slipped them back into his bag. “How’s it going?”

“Splendidly! Although I am slightly troubled… which is why I have come to you for advice. Out of everyone on the Earth as I know it, I feel as if you are the most qualified to handle an issue such as the one I have.” Touji nodded towards the door, an indication for Yuma to follow, and continued, “It… is about relationships.”

“Relationships?” Yuma echoed, stepping out into the hallway. A few students were milling around, looking as if all they wanted to do was catch a glimpse of members of the elite class. Yuma wished he had that sort of free time on his hands. “And I’m the best person to ask?”

Touji nodded with such conviction that Yuma was already half-convinced that Touji was right. “Of course! You’ve made quite a name for yourself exploring such things in fiction, so you must be an expert. Not to mention, you seem to get along with nearly everyone. So! I pose my question to you, Mochizuki-kun…”

Touji stopped, suddenly, with Yuma stopping a step or so behind him. Touji whirled around, hands on his hips, facing Yuma. His expression was exceptionally striking, and it’d be the perfect image to sketch if Yuma was looking at him from just a slightly different angle. Straight-on shots were almost always boring, so maybe if he was slightly to the left and a little lower than eye-level… Maybe even knee-level? Was that the proper term? Either way, from below would be ideal, and oh, Touji was talking again.

“—so how did you do it, Mochizuki-kun? With Yanagi?” Touji asked.

...Well, the little bit of monologue that Yuma tuned into didn’t help too much. He assumed  _ it  _ could be replaced with “make up with him,” and the relationship thing Touji mentioned earlier was relationships in general, not just romantic ones. Now that that puzzle was put together, it was easier to think of an answer.

“I apologized?” Yuma said, although it still came out like a question. It was a little more complicated than that, but that version was easier to digest quickly than the full story, and Touji looked too preoccupied with his own issue that ruminating too much on anything else would cause him to misinterpret something somehow.

Instead, Touji nodded rather sagely. “I see… So apologizing is the key.”

Yuma almost mirrored the nod. “Yeah, pretty much.”

“You have my thanks, Mochizuki-kun. I will try that as soon as I get the chance!”

With a wide smile, Touji hurried off to whoever he needed to apologize to. Yuma could only assume he meant Shion, but it really could be anyone. If he came back in a little while with a fumbling tongue and a redness in his face only a rose could rival, then Yuma would know for sure.

Yuma made it back to his dorm without much further interruption. He quickly sat down at his desk, unloading his supplies from his bag. On his left, he had math homework, an English worksheet, and a few lines to finish up from a Japanese literature reflection. On his right, he had his drawing pencils, his sketchbook, and more ideas than he could count for the next installment of his web manga. After hardly a moment’s hesitation, he chose his right.

He’d probably be best off transferring the thumbnails he’d drawn in the fuzziness of those first few morning classes to a proper sheet of paper. He had thought of a funny scenario based off of what he’d witnessed during breakfast that morning, where Shinya just so happened to trip and knock down one of the “kittens” going after Yanagi in the process. Yanagi hadn’t even noticed what had taken place, since he was chatting with Yuma throughout the whole thing, but Yuma had seen it all unfold just over Yanagi’s shoulder. It was the perfect scene to recreate in the alien world he escaped to.

He felt like he hadn’t been working for very long at all when he heard the click of the door and, a heartbeat later, Yanagi’s voice.

“I’m home,” Yanagi said, his voice not very loud at all. Come to think of it, Yanagi’s voice sounded like the feeling of feathers tickling Yuma’s face.

“Welcome home,” Yuma mumbled, instinctively at this point. Aside from the brief moment where he’d placed exactly what Yanagi’s voice sounded like, he was hardly thinking of anything except the manga. The thumbnails had quickly turned into full pages, a few already stacked up on Yanagi’s desk ready to be inked.

Fleetingly, he felt Yanagi’s fingers running through his hair again, but the older boy was gone before Yuma had the chance to truly appreciate it. Yanagi didn’t go far, his seat at his desk just barely an arm’s length away from Yuma’s. Yuma heard Yanagi shuffle through some of the pages, probably deciding which of them to do first. Oops. Yuma should have arranged them in a neater order, with the types of pages he knew Yanagi liked to ink best towards the top.

The shuffling of papers paused. “You’ve done a lot today, Yuma. Good job.”

“I felt pretty good this morning,” Yuma said, finally looking up from his art long enough to actually look at Yanagi. He blinked a few times, disoriented by the sudden onset of the 3D world.

Yanagi laughed at that. “Take it easy, okay? Take a break while I start inking. You don’t have an urgent deadline coming up, so it’ll be fine if you stand up, walk around, stretch a bit. Make sure your fingers aren’t stiff.”

“It’s not about the  _ deadline.” _ Yuma did as he was told, standing and reaching as far up as he could. He was pretty sure his back cracked, and as he looked up, he wondered exactly how tall he’d have to be to be able to touch the floor of the loft. “It’s about the  _ groove,  _ Yanagi-senpai.”

“Right, right. The groove.” Contrary to how he nodded, Yanagi didn’t seem like he understood at all.

As Yuma began to pace along the room’s perimeter, Yanagi began to ink. It was probably better that Yuma get at least  _ some  _ of his blood flowing before continuing to work. He really should have learned by now that drawing so much his fingers get stiff and his wrists ache is definitely not the route to perfect productivity. Yanagi was always there to remind him of these things, to remind him to take care of himself even during the worst of crunch times.

“Back into the groove,” Yuma said, mostly to himself, but Yanagi agreed anyway.

“This page is pretty funny,” Yanagi said, flashing the page he was inking at Yuma. “What had you in such a good mood today?”

As usual, Yanagi’s voice was that same feathery tone Yuma had grown so used to. Especially in the early mornings and the evenings, Yanagi adopted such a gentle voice that Yuma felt like he was a precious gem, and Yanagi a jeweler, polishing him and situating him exactly where the light would hit him best.

“I was just feeling well-rested this morning.” Yuma began going over his loose sketches with a bit more detail now, deciding he’d just do three more pages before calling it a night. In total, he’d have six pages finished. Not bad at all.

“That’s lovely. I’m glad to hear that.”

Silence fell upon them again, and Yuma felt like he was getting right back into the groove he’d had going on earlier. He wondered if Yanagi was getting into it, too. He seemed to be inking the pages a little more quickly than he usually did, but that could also be because he was interested in the content. Did he know it was about him?

Yuma finished the last three pages much quicker than he expected. He supposed it couldn’t be helped—neglecting homework to work on drawing was always thrilling, always set him into a different sort of mood. He stretched, reaching as far as he could in a feeble attempt to wave the pages in Yanagi’s face.

“Done for tonight,” Yuma said. “Should I do more?”

“Good job!” Yanagi hummed as he plucked the pages from Yuma’s fingers. “Looks good. If you’re still in a drawing mood, maybe you could put down some more thumbnails? Don’t overexert yourself by drawing too much.”

Yuma nodded slowly. He  _ was  _ itching to draw some more, but he also knew that if he skipped any more English worksheets, he’d fail the class. He jotted down a basic plotline for what he wanted to do next so he wouldn’t completely lose his inspiration, but reluctantly, he set the worksheet in front of him instead. Consistently speaking in a Tokyo dialect was hard enough, so a completely foreign language was impossible. After all, the only English words he knew were the bits and pieces that occasionally showed up in anime whenever there was a foreigner. For some reason, foreigners always spoke English, and Yuma was good enough at  _ kinda  _ picking out certain words.

“Hey, Yuma,” Yanagi said, completely interrupting Yuma’s train of thought. Conjugations were hard. “Can I ask you something?”

Yuma stared at the sentence he was working on for a moment longer. Well, it wasn’t like the correct conjugation would suddenly come to mind if he just kept looking at it. “Sure.”

“It’s still okay if I call those girls my kittens, right? Cuties, honeys, cutie honeys—all that’s okay with you?” he asked, and although his voice still felt like feathers, it was weighted somehow.

Quite frankly, Yuma wasn’t really sure why Yanagi was asking him something like that. All that was okay before, so why wouldn’t it be now? Besides, it wasn’t like  _ Yuma _ had any sort of authority. Maybe Yanagi was looking for some sort of reassurance? And it was their jobs to support each other after all.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Yuma said, because if all Yanagi needed was a little bit of reassurance, that’d be more than enough.

As expected, Yanagi looked a lot less tense than he did before, exhaling and relaxing his shoulders. “Just making sure. You’re surprisingly laidback about things like that, Yuma.”

Yuma shrugged. It wasn’t really his business;  _ that _ was probably why he seemed so laidback. Either way, briefly speaking to Yanagi somehow helped him come up with the conjugation he needed. And that finished up the worksheet, which took much longer than another page would have, but Yuma was sure his report card would thank him later.

Yuma stood up to stretch before Yanagi could even tell him to. He felt a little proud of himself for that, considering it’d been a long while since Yanagi didn’t have to remind him to stretch or take a break. He even smiled to himself as he attempted to reach the bottom of the loft, failing as usual.

“You should head on up to bed,” Yanagi said when Yuma began to reach down to touch his toes. “It’s getting pretty late, hm?”

Yuma hadn’t even thought to check the time, but he trusted Yanagi’s judgment. They both pulled all-nighters often enough that staying up late hardly fazed either of them anymore, so it was easy to get carried away and not notice the time until the sun was peeking through the curtains.

“Shouldn’t you go to bed, too?” Yuma countered. If it was too late for one of them, then it was too late for  _ both  _ of them, no matter how much Yanagi insisted he ran on different rules. 

“I’ll finish inking these pages, and then I’ll join you.” Yanagi laughed, waving Yuma off. 

“Join me?” Yuma repeated. The words felt odd. Yanagi didn’t usually say weird things like that.

Yanagi paused, looking at Yuma with a face as confused as Yuma felt. “...In going to sleep?”

Yuma blinked for a few moments. “Ah, right.”

Yuma got ready for bed rather slowly, not ready for his good mood to end. He was certainly ready to sleep, but he was afraid he’d wake up and lose this beautiful burst of motivation forever. Now that he had it, he never wanted it to slip from his fingers ever again.

He hung by the stairs, quietly watching Yanagi as he inked. He looked rather attractive when he was so focused. Not like he was unattractive otherwise—he was extremely attractive all the time, but even more so when inking Yuma’s manga. There. That made sense. The folk in Tokyo were just all-around attractive no matter what! And Yuma just happened to be so focused on Yanagi because they were paired together. 

He didn’t even realize he was staring directly into Yanagi’s eyes until Yanagi was raising an eyebrow at him, giving him the smallest smile. “Bedtime, Yuma. I’ve just got this page to do, and then I’ll be up. I promise.”

“Right, sorry…” Yuma shook his head. “Goodnight, Yanagi-senpai.”

“Goodnight, Yuma.” Yanagi smiled, a smile that felt like the early morning summer sun and looked just as beautiful. “Sweet dreams.”

It was dark enough upstairs that Yuma didn’t really have to wait for Yanagi to finish before going to sleep. He somehow managed to stay up a little longer anyway, trying to focus on one plotline to work through to help him fall asleep yet not being able to hold on to a single one. He just kept thinking about physically drawing them out, about how he’d likely need Touji to model for one or Shion to model for another, about how it might be wise to observe how Senri and Takaomi bicker before starting to develop one relationship, about how maybe he should learn a little more about love before writing another romance.

(But honestly, somehow Yuma felt like he’d already been on a date or something. He wasn’t sure if he  _ could _ call it a date, but one night, Yanagi had brought some fancy restaurant food back home with him, set it between the two of them, and they had dinner together. Yuma would have liked to say it was candlelit, but he’d been up for about two days at that point, and the flickering light he recalled was probably a combination of the desk lamp and the fact that he was drifting in and out of consciousness even while sitting completely upright. So it was somewhat like a date. If a date included one party being so tired he couldn’t even remember  _ what  _ they had for dinner.)

About how no matter how late into the night he worked, he’d have Yanagi working right alongside him.

Somehow, Yuma felt like every good thing that’d happened to him recently always led back to Yanagi. From being able to pick up his web manga to a  _ goodnight _ every night… Everything led back to him, and Yuma felt like there was more unpacking to do there than he had the mental energy for. Or maybe he was just too tired. Either way, dwelling on it would probably be a better idea for tomorrow.

As Yuma drifted off, he heard the  _ click _ of Yanagi turning off the light, and he was glad that they both got to sleep at a reasonable hour.

  
  


Yuma was faced with a crisis by lunchtime.

Well, Takaomi and Senri were fighting again, so really he had  _ two  _ crises on his hands, but the more pressing one was internal and wouldn’t be solved by the smallest distraction.

As most days did, this Tuesday began with one of Yanagi’s gentle good morning routines. Yuma probably lingered a little longer in bed than he should have, but Yanagi was still patient with him, running those long fingers through his hair until Yuma felt ready enough to wake up.

One thing that was different, though, was the way Yanagi carefully held Yuma’s face right before they both left for breakfast. Yuma assumed he was just being inspected, since it had been rather dry out and he was prone to acne in dry weather, but Yanagi’s gaze was a little too soft for that. Instead, Yanagi told him that he looked rather nice that morning.

And in that moment, Yuma realized he wanted to be held like that forever.

He had blushed, stammered out a  _ thank you,  _ and the morning continued on as usual. Just before they parted for the day, Yanagi just barely touched the small of Yuma’s back, warning him that it was Tuesday and that Yuma shouldn’t wait up for him to get back. And Yuma usually didn’t, but he’d been spending the whole day thinking about seeing Yanagi again.

He ended up burying his head in his arms at the table. Feelings were  _ hard. _ They were hard, and Yuma knew he’d be better off dealing with them now rather than later, but the  _ now  _ he needed couldn’t come soon enough. He just wanted to know whether or not he should prepare his heart to be crushed, just like he wanted to know whether or not he could feel comfortable envisioning somewhat of a future with Yanagi.

“Yumapi!” Senri shouted, a little louder than he had been yelling at Takaomi just moments before. “Are you feeling okay? I can take you to the nurse if you want!”

“I’m okay,” Yuma mumbled, even more muffled with his arms in the way. He sat up and repeated himself. “I’m okay. I just stood up a little late working again.”

Senri didn’t seem totally convinced. Yuma didn’t blame him; he’d chalked so many bad feelings in the past up to being tired from working a little too late into the night, and it was only natural that Senri would stop believing him at some point. 

“You don’t look tired,” Takaomi said, rather bluntly, and somehow it made Yuma feel a little worse. He must be  _ really  _ awful at hiding it if even Takaomi agreed with Senri.

“If anything at all is troubling you, just know that we are here to support you. No matter what!” Touji smiled, clapping Yuma on the back. “I have Japan’s national guard at my service, so if you need something—or someone—to be taken care of, you know where to find me!”

“Thanks, guys,” Yuma said, not quite sure about how to tell them he was having boy problems without seeming like a complete weirdo. It was times like these where he wished he could just run off back home and ask Mari about what to do. Despite her age, she always seemed to know how to work out things like that.

Unfortunately, home was much too far away to even consider, so he really just had to figure things out by himself.

 

It was 1:30, and Yanagi would be getting home any minute.

In all honesty, Yuma probably decided he was going to wait for Yanagi to get home as soon as he woke up that morning. No, before then—when he was falling asleep the night before, really. The issue had been at the forefront of his mind  _ all  _ day, and if he didn’t put it to rest right now, he’d go crazy.

(The whole thing was a little funny. The day before, Yuma could hardly concentrate because of the floaty feeling Yanagi had gifted him that morning, and now, it was the same, but the floaty feeling was laced with a lot more anxiety.)

It was easy: either Yanagi liked him back, or he didn’t. There was enough evidence for both scenarios. On one hand, Yanagi was a little more touchy-feely with Yuma than he used to be. He was almost always touching Yuma’s hair or their arms were brushing or  _ something. _ It was always something. Additionally, Yanagi showered him with so many compliments, calling him beautiful or handsome or even just calling him sweet. Those were all good things that made it seem like Yuma  _ did  _ have a chance with him.

On the other hand, Yanagi really liked girls. He  _ really  _ liked girls, and Yuma was not a girl. That was probably the biggest thing going against him since it could negate all of the positive things into just being friendly gestures. There was also the fact that Yanagi hadn’t really said anything about his own feelings, and he seemed like the type to confess first if he was truly interested in someone. Of course, that was mostly based on Yuma’s own speculation, but it was still a considerable factor.

So it’d be best to just say it. He’d just say how he felt and get it over with, and if it made everything awkward, they could both just sleep on it. Yuma could even write it off as being too sleepy to think coherently and apologize the next morning, and things would go back to normal. It’d be fine. It’d be fine! And like Touji said, if everything went wrong, he wouldn’t have to be sad all by himself.

The plan was to stay relaxed about it. Don’t make a fuss, don’t make a big deal out of it. Just say it casually. He could even play it off as a joke if he was able to think quick enough.

All plans of nonchalance were flung out the window as soon as Yanagi walked in. Yuma found himself leaping up from the chair he was in, standing pretty stiff. There was absolutely no hope of playing it cool now, not at all.

Yanagi spoke before Yuma could. “Hey. I told you not to wait up for me! You’re gonna get eye bags if you do stuff like this.” He set his bag down, looking Yuma up and down. “You look… stressed.”

Yuma tried to think of literally  _ anything  _ else to say in response to that that wasn’t blurting out his feelings, but he came up with absolutely nothing. He probably looked even more stupid just standing there with his fists clenched than anything he could have said, but Yanagi was once again quick to fill the silence.

“If you want, I’ll get you some milk to help you fall asleep a little faster.”  He smiled, crossing over to ruffle Yuma’s hair. “I can rub your back, too, if you really are as stressed as you look.”

“I like you a lot,” Yuma blurted, unable to keep himself quiet anymore with Yanagi so close to him. “I really, really like you, and I think it’s been bugging me for a while without me even noticing, but I just want you to know that.”

Yanagi seemed a bit stunned for a second before he tilted his head. “What? I know you like me. I like you too, Yuma. I thought we’ve established this already.”

What? Now Yuma was even more confused. They’ve established that already?

_ “When?” _ Yuma asked. He was a bit glad, then, that he decided to bring it up now. It would have been extremely awkward if it came up any other way, but he really was glad that things hadn’t ended nearly as catastrophically as he had planned for.

Yanagi cupped Yuma’s cheek, looking considerably more concerned than he had before. “I think you’re more tired than you think you are,” he said. “Don’t you remember? That night I brought home dinner… You talked for nearly five minutes straight about having a crush on me.”

Oh.

_ Oh. _

That made sense. It all made perfect sense! It certainly explained Yanagi’s sudden touchiness, the incredibly soft morning routines, how he asked the day before if the whole  _ honeys  _ thing was okay… Yuma was just an  _ idiot! _

“You don’t remember a single thing.” Yanagi laughed. “Well, that’s alright. We’re on the same page now, aren’t we?”

Yuma nodded. “Yeah… Sorry, I think I’m stupid? I can barely remember anything from that night.”

Frowning, Yanagi said, “You’re not stupid. We’ll just have a do-over, yeah? Maybe on Thursday night. But for now, you should go to bed.”

Yuma really couldn’t argue with him. The past couple of days were a lot, and maybe sleeping with this new knowledge that he had  _ nothing  _ to worry about would do him some good. Even though he was incredibly giddy from the fact that his feelings were reciprocated—and had been for a couple of weeks now—his eyes were begging him for some sleep.

He couldn’t stop his mind from racing at the idea of Thursday’s date. A  _ real  _ date that Yuma would remember… He’d probably get to hold Yanagi’s hand if he asked nicely enough. Or maybe Yanagi would take his hand first, with a suaveness Yuma was used to seeing practiced on girls. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to handle something like that directed towards him at all, but he was ready to try.

Yanagi tucked him into bed with a kiss on the forehead and an offer to stay until Yuma fell asleep. Yuma graciously accepted the offer, and he was content to tumble into sleep lulled by the gentle motions of Yanagi’s fingers through his hair, like waves lapping at the shore.

  
  


The next day, Yuma was walking on air. He and Yanagi went through their usual morning routine, and Yanagi even walked him all the way to his usual breakfast table that morning. Yuma was quite concerned for how Yanagi was going to get back to his own table without someone attempting to murder him, but he supposed he just had to trust that Yanagi could mind himself. His table wasn’t too far away from Yuma’s anyway, so it’d be fine.

(Yuma was probably just overreacting. After all, he didn’t want to lose Yanagi after  _ just  _ realizing they were together.)

Yuma didn’t really mean to announce his relationship status to the whole class, but it ended up that way with how excitedly he blurted it out. Thankfully, most of the class didn’t pay him much attention. Really, hardly  _ anyone  _ paid him much attention. Even his friends, who he thought would be most supportive, seemed pretty unbothered.

“We know,” Senri said. “We  _ know  _ you’re dating Yanagi. It’s kinda obvious, Yumapi! But it’s super cute that you’re so excited about it.”

“Yes, it is incredibly obvious,” Touji added. “It’s why I asked you for advice the other day. You were aware of that, correct?”

“I’m gonna have to agree with that shitty rabbit,” Takaomi said, “except I totally saw it coming before he did.”

Senri and Takaomi quickly devolved into another round of arguing, with Touji hurriedly attempting to shush the two of them before class started. Meanwhile, Yuma was left to think. Did  _ everyone  _ know about him and Yanagi before he himself did?

...He really needed to stop pulling all-nighters.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!!!!! i really hope you liked it!!!!
> 
> find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/mezzosaka) if you ever wanna cry about yanayuma with me!!! or even just yuma!!!!! or just d!i in general!!!!!! and if you liked it, consider checking out some of my other fics, too!!
> 
> have a lovely day!!


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